


Gods and Creatures: A Record

by Zubyn



Category: Original Work
Genre: Beastiary, Demon Hierarchy, Demons, Monsters, Vampire Information, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:41:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26960827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zubyn/pseuds/Zubyn
Summary: A collection of tales and information of the many mysterious forces and creatures of the world.





	1. A Basic Classification of Demon Types

In human records, demons have been generally separated into three groups.

  1. Human souls that linger on earth to torment the living
  2. Nephilim, the children of both the divine and mortals (Namely angel and human offspring)
  3. Fallen Angels, the angels that sided with Lucifer and were cast out with him by Michael during the battle.



Demons resent the idea of human spirits being considered demons since most human ghosts are not nearly powerful enough to deal with the lower-class demons. Not to mention, most demons find human beings weak and pathetic for this reason.

As for the Nephilim (or sometimes Aasimar), the mortal opinion on them varied quite a lot. Sometimes they were seen as divine children and valued and respect as much as full-blooded angels. Other times, humans and even angels themselves resented their existence, calling them forbidden sinful unions. To these individuals, their existence was viewed as a betrayal to God as they carried the blood of heaven without consent. When God used to flood to cleanse the world, many of the Nephilim's bodies were destroyed. However, since they have the angel's blood and grace in their soul, their spirits persisted. Many of them yearn for re-embodiment and wholeness, which drove many of them to possess the bodies of human beings, earning them the evil reputation many demons have.

At times, other demons have been hesitant to accept them into their society due to their angel blood. Many of these demons are usually ignorant that many of their lords and rulers were once full angels themselves. While few Nephilim willingly classifies themselves and stay with the main demon populace, the ones that do are respected by the rest of demonkind for their power and devotion.

The fallen angels of demon society are often high-ranked and very powerful. With the corruption of blood that was once pure, they develop great power. It is most commonly believed that these demons' blood that monsters in the human world were made from, like vampires.

Another classification of demons, one that is more numerous than the previously mentioned class, manifests mortal sin. The demons in this classification do not include cardinal sins. The demons in this classification usually manifest from an intense practice of a particular sin, murder, for example. This doesn't necessarily mean that the demons here were once humans themselves. In fact, most of them are not. They manifest directly from the negative energy and are not born like the next classification is. Recently demons of this group are scarce, though not as much as the Nephilim and Fallen.

The demons' main population comes from the repeated reproduction of humans and manifested sin and sometimes Nephilim, somewhat ironically. This class's demons are generally largely unaware of their ancestry and keep their superiority complex regarding mortal beings. Many of these demons are ruled by the dukes, princes, and kings of hell, some more powerful than others but are generally viewed as the working class. However, it is not uncommon for Lords to rise out of this classification.


	2. On Vampires

**Description and Attributes  
** Vampires are undead, creatures that feed on vital essence, most typically, blood. They mostly prey on human beings rather than animals. The species is much stronger than most creatures on earth and is feared by both mortal and monsterkind alike.

**  
Creation  
** Vampires, unlike most monsters in the world, are made instead of naturally born. A vampire can only be created through a state of death inflicted upon a mortal; in other words, a human being. A human must ingest the essence of a vampire before they die. The only known physical way to achieve this reliably is through the blood.  
  
  
 **Identification  
** Contrary to human belief, vampires are not as easy to pick out as spotting an overly sophisticated and gaunt person in the crowd. While many of them have acquired a pale countenance, this is not the case with every vampire. Many of them look identical to humans. Others carry more monstrous features, like dark veins running down their face. Some have more ethereal features, like pointed ears, and some have vibrant-colored eyes you would not normally see in a human being, such a bright orange and red hues of a sunset.

Identifying a vampire by appearance alone is nearly impossible. However, there are some behavioral patterns one might observe that can be a clue. Most vampires will avoid the sun. There are rare cases where a vampire was assisted by a witch or other creature that allows them to walk in the sun, and even in the rare cases where this happens, most vampires still aim to avoid the sun. Even if they can avoid death from sunlight, most vampires still plain dislike the sunlight.

Vampires also tend not to sleep as much as an average human being. They may sleep during the day or night, but they always seem to get up soon after sleeping with no hindering fatigue.

Vampires usually have a strong sense of smell. A hint someone may be vampiric is even the slightest of scents will smell very potent to them. The use of lilac is common since the scent is one of the slightest with flowers. Someone reacting visibly to the smell, especially negatively as if overwhelmed, is unusual.

A witch could also use their connection to the natural magics of the world to identify a vampire.  
  
  
 **Protection** **  
**Mortals believed vampires to bear weaknesses to things like holy objects (crosses/rosaries, scriptures, blessed/purified/holy water, silver, garlic, etc.) This section will be used to debunk each of those things.

  * **Crosses and Rosaries**  

    * Vampires were believed by humans to have a connection to demons and angered spirits. Using a symbol of god or the Jesus figure was believed to ward them off or weaken them due to their associated holiness. It was also believed that making the rosary of silver would make it more effective. Refer to the Silver section below.
  * **Silver**
    * Silver was likely construed as a weakness for vampires due to their association with their wolven rivals. The two monsters were both associated with dark magic or the devil, and it is very likely a mistranslation error caused this trope.  
Another common reason for the weakness to silver is that silvered objects were also associated with holiness.
  * **Garlic**  

    * Vampires were likely believed to be weak to garlic due to the illnesses they were associated with, namely rabies and porphyria. Both of these conditions differ radically, but both share the common trait of people becoming intolerant to garlic.
  * **True Weaknesses**  

    * With the debunk section out of the way, vampires do have weaknesses, though they aren't many. 
      * Sunlight. With very few exceptions, vampires are vulnerable to sunlight. It will purge them with extreme heat, often causing them to combust after prolonged exposure.
      * Starvation is a serious debilitation to vampires. It is rare for a vampire to die of a lack of blood, but it will induce a desiccation effect of their body. The skin will become disfigured and cracked, and they will enter a death-like state, unable to move or otherwise interact with the world in a deep slumber.
      * Witches can make spells that can hinder or weaken a vampire. A gifted witch could use their power to harm the vampire's vital essence from within, which physical weapons often have a hard time doing. They can slow their regeneration powers or even potentially induce desiccation upon them.



  
**Methods of Destruction** **  
**In old human belief, staking was the most widely believed way to kill a vampire. Due to the vampire's typical depiction as bloated, it was reasoned that the piercing of the chest was 'deflating' the creature. While this thought process is largely flawed and inaccurate to a typical vampire's appearance, the method of staking is effective. Due to the vampire's incredible regenerative abilities, it is quite difficult to inflict long-term damage. A stake to the chest and, by extension, the heart, however, is one of the most effective ways to kill one.

Other methods hold the same logic: damaging the vital parts of the body will lead to death—decapitation, cremation/burning, and dismemberment, to name a few.  
  
  
 **Abilities  
** Due to the vampire's unnatural presence as an undead creature and their direct descent from demons, the entire species is incredibly powerful by default. However, younger vampires are likely to be weaker, and many other individuals are more powerful than others. A vampire's strength varies.

  * **Super Strength**
    * Vampires are supernaturally stronger than humans, other mortals such as hunters and witches, and most other monsters. Newly turned vampires also express increased strength, able to throw a full-grown man with great strength and speed with little to no difficulty. As vampires grow older, typically, their strength will increase slowly. Several hundred years old vampires will always be more powerful than one that has been one for less than a decade. This fact is generally true for all of their abilities.
  * **Super Speed**
    * A vampire's physical speed is much greater than a mortal's and werewolves while in their human form. It is difficult for humans to predict and see a vampire's movement while using their enhanced speed. The mortal eye typically sees vampires as a blur of motion. More powerful vampires could potentially move more quickly than the human brain could process the movement.
    * A vampire's reflexes are also enhanced. They can catch objects mid-air and dodge sudden attacks that would normally have little to no warning. Of course, vampires are not omnipotent and can be victims of a surprise attack; in the case that they cannot see, smell, or hear their attacker.
  * **Super Agility  
**
    * Many of a vampire's abilities rely on their diet, but their agility seems to be the most easily affected by their meals. Vampires that drain blood from animals rather than human beings will not be able to jump as high, climb, or perform any other dextrous actions as well. Vampires that regularly drink human blood can jump onto rooftops from the ground, use their heightened speed to climb surfaces in the blink of an eye, and maneuver their body in unique ways. Combining their agility and speed abilities proves difficult for many new vampires, increasing the reverence with older vampires.
  * **Heightened Senses**
    * A vampire has heightened hearing, sight, smell, and taste that exceeds mortals and most other monsters. They can easily overhear conversations, even on the phone or from a different room. Vampires can tune out most ambient noise when it's unnecessary to hear them, so their enhanced hearing doesn't overwhelm them. They can smell blood from several meters to miles away, depending on their age and skill. Their heightened sight, smell, and taste can help them detect the presence of drugs, alcohol, illness, etc. by observing the body or tasting the subject's blood.
  * **Super Durability  
**
    * Aside from the healing factor a vampire has, they are also extremely durable. Even when inflicted with great damage, a vampire will often keep fighting as long as their vitals are not damaged severely. Young vampires tend to tire more easily and be burdened by human-level force, though this begins to clear up as they get older. Experienced and older vampires also become resistant to blows that would otherwise cause a stunning or dazing.
  * **Healing Factor**
    * Amongst all of a vampire's abilities, they are most known for their incredible regenerative powers. Vampires can sustain great damage and heal from wounds that would easily debilitate or kill a mortal, such as stab wounds, gunshots, etc. Even severe wounds like impalement will heal relatively quickly, assuming that vampire dines on human blood. Vampires with animal blood can still heal quickly, though the rate is slower, and it is more difficult to recover from more severe wounds.
    * The only exception to their great healing is their weaknesses listed above. When vampires are harmed with their banes, their healing can be slowed, leaving them more vulnerable to death.
  * **Immortality**
    * Vampires stop aging once they are turned. They also gain immunity to diseases, viruses, infections, and other conditions.




End file.
